Snorkeling Mile Marker 13 on Maui, Hawaii

This turtle swam so close to me when I took this photo.

Things are getting expensive these days in Hawaii. Hotel rooms are costing over $1000 per night. Activities, like a snorkel trip on a boat, are upwards of $200 per person! Now you add a rental car, gas, and food, and your vacation is starting to look wildly expensive. So, when people find themselves out here in expensive Maui, they are often looking for cheaper alternatives. I often get asked, where is the best place to snorkel from the shore? And one of my favorite spots to send people to is here, Olowalu Reef, at mile marker 13.

Some people know this as Mile Marker 13 Beach. It is an expansive reef that stretches several miles down the coast. It has incredible coral, and is punctuated by deep sand channels running through it. Sea turtles meander about, coming up to breath periodically, and looking for algae to eat. And colorful reef fish dart every which way as you snorkel over. The entrance from the shore is calm and easy. Although, I do tell people that the reef gets prettier and prettier the farther out you go. It stays shallow for quite a while. You can often see snorkel boats mooring up way offshore. The reef extends all the way to them!

So be bold, grab your snorkel gear, and head out to find a turtle of your own! Enjoy the photos and following along on the adventure.

Two oval butterflyfish turn and look at the camera in unison. The coral here is just incredible. I feel like you could snorkel this reef for days it is so large.

Some of the coral heads are immense. They must be hundreds, maybe thousands of years old to grow this big.

Close up of some of the stony coral.

The visibility was good and the coral was covering everything.

A teardrop butterflyfish swims over the reef.

An ornate butterflyfish lets me come in for a closeup.

A snorkeler swims over the coral, through the blue Hawaiian waters.

Deeper sand channels, where the coral cannot attach to and grow, form a path through the densely packed reef.

Here, Tichelle, dives down through one of the sand channels.

Sergeant Majors and a black triggerfish swim over the corals.

Look at all these corals!

Mother and daughter, snorkeling at Olowalu Reef, at Maui's mile marker 13.

Sarah, practicing her freediving skills.

We found a sea turtle!

The turtle didn't seem to mind us swimming next to it. We stayed with it for awhile, watching it come to the surface and breath.

At one point this turtle swam right towards me. Luckily I had my camera ready!

Sarah with her turtle.

Hayley swimming behind a sea turtle.

Cool shot of Hayley swimming down and freediving with a turtle.

This young turtle had a beautiful shell.

Enjoying the snorkel!

This is a male, Hawaiian spotted boxfish.

Some of the coral formed monolithic towers on the reef here.

A juvenile yellowtail wrasse is about as close to Nemo as we get here in Hawaii.

I was very excited to see this endemic Blue Rice Coral. You can only find this species here in Hawaii. It really lights up the reef with its electric blue color.

As always, keep traveling, and keep posting!
-Dai Mar